"Quotation"

Lidya's Life: One

"I'll tell you tomorrow," Lidya insisted. Irina had been bothering her to tell what had happened on Friday, but Lidya refused to say anything until she had both Mikhail and Irina in the same place so she wouldn't have to repeat herself. "Sorry, Irina."

"But... but... but Lidyah!" Lidya just rolled her eyes. Now Irina was whining. Great. "I wanna know now!"

"No," Lidya said. Then, with a silent pout from Irina, the call was ended. Lidya stared at her phone in shock. Irina had just hung up. Wow. That was a first. Usually Lidya had to hang up because Irina liked talking. Oh, well, her friend could mope all she wanted, but she was going to get her information no sooner or later than tomorrow. And she had to deal with it.

*~*o.o*~*o.o*~*(o.o)*~*o.o*~*o.o*~*

Monday morning, Lidya woke up already bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It was only a matter of getting out of bed and proceeding with the day. And so, the girl got up, changed into her usual clothes (jeans, t-shirt, jacket, socks, worn-down shoes, and a hat to cover her un-brushed hair), brushed her teeth, packed her backpack, and headed downstairs to eat the same thing she always ate on a school day (Cocoa Krispies). She made a lunch and was ready to go at seven-thirty precisely. Like every morning. She fetched her mother and away they drove.

Now, Lidya did not see Irina and Mikhail until lunch because of schedule differences, but the last two classes of the day she had with them both. She had apt time to tell them. On the day dragged up until lunch where she met up with her friends. They sat on the grass; the section of grass that wasn't near the amphitheatre, nor at the very front of school, but in the in between next to the front office. This is where they sat everyday.

"So, what happened," Mikhail asked eagerly, but then realized his mistake and added to sound manly, "Did someone get shot?"

"Yes," Lidya replied sarcastically. "Agostino and Mr. Calico-Eyed Russian got shot and died. It was the last chapter of the story and you guys missed it."

"Your kidding," Irina cried desperately. Right. She was gullible. Forgot.

Lidya sighed. "No, Irina. It was a joke. What actually happened was, it was Nikita's eighteenth birthday and her best friends threw her a surprise birthday party. After that, she ran into Mr. Calico-Eyed Russian and he wished her a happy birthday and gave her a rose. I actually saw that rose; it's dead now but it's in the diary. After that, she received a call from Agostino, but it wasn't him. His little sisters Katrina and Viviana got a hold of his phone and called her for who know's what reason and he got his phone back and wished her a happy birthday. And then she realized the weirdo did, too." Lidya said this in one breath and she was proud of that fact.

She let her friends digest her verbal vomit for a bit. And then, "That guy's creepy."

"And here I thought he was pretty cool."

"So now she's eighteen."

"That's cute, the rose thing, I mean."

"His sisters seem nice."

"Agostino is definitely nice and they were meant to be."

Irina and Lidya looked at each other. Then burst out into laughter. Had Mikhail really just said that? He really did have a heart, didn't he! And he made those other girl-y comments, too! Ah, this was too good to be true. They looked at their now-blushing guy friend and started laughing once more. For the next two classes, the girls continued teasing him.

*~*o.o*~*o.o*~*(o.o)*~*o.o*~*o.o*~*

"Hey mom," Lidya greeted. "How was your day?" She buckled-up.

"Uneventful," was the same-old-same-old reply. "And yours?"

Lidya told her mother about lunch and Mikhail. Which prompted an inquiry about what Lidya was doing every Friday. To which Lidya responded with the whole story about Nikita and Agostino with as many details as she could remember up until the point of two days ago. Her mother just followed along, occasionally asking questions which Lidya would answer as best he could. When they arrived home, her mom told her it was quite the interesting story and maybe one day she could come, too.